Steven Gerrard: I thought Luis Suárez would leave. Now he can get Liverpool back into the Champions League

Steven Gerrard has admitted that he thought Luis Suárez had played his last
game for Liverpool. But after the Uruguayan striker’s triumphant Premier
League return with two goals at Sunderland on Sunday, the Liverpool captain
believes Suárez’s enduring presence gives the club a chance of returning to
the Champions League positions this season.

Getting shirty: Luis Suarez celebrates scoring his second goal and Liverpool's third in their 3-1 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of LightPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Gerrard was among those who pleaded with Suárez to stay for one more season as the erratic start to the Premier League season shows the fight for top-four positions could be the most unpredictable of recent times.

The display against Sunderland underlined why Brendan Rodgers resisted Suárez’s attempts to leave in the summer. Having seen the 26-year-old show no side effects after being denied a move to Arsenal, Gerrard says Liverpool are buoyed by his comeback.

Asked if he thought he had played his last game alongside Suárez, Gerrard said: “Every day in the summer. When you have a player as good as Luis Suárez, you know that the big clubs are going to want him. I was waking up every morning, hoping that nothing would happen and that he would still be here.

“Nobody tried harder than me to make him stay and he knows exactly what I think of him. I knew if we could keep him here, the better our chances would be. He is a special type of footballer and he gives us something different. When the club got the message to him that they were not going to sell him, he got his head down and has worked hard. He has never given us a moment’s problem.

“I think it is a credit to Luis for the way he has come back. A lot of players who have been in his position might have come back and spat the dummy out, not trying for the team. But he is not that type of guy. He realised that the club wanted to keep him and he has respected their decision. He is here now and he wants to stay. He wants to achieve something this season and he looks as hungry as he has ever done.”

In second place after the first six games, the highest Liverpool have been after this number of fixtures for 17 years, Gerrard believes rivals will finally be concerned about the Anfield challenge. “Everyone is taking points off one another and I’m sure other teams are taking note that we are a threat to them,” Gerrard said.

“But to be honest, I’m not too bothered about what people are saying about us. I know what this team is capable of. The main thing for us is to keep fighting and show that we are capable of staying in these positions to around Christmas time and then we will see where that takes us. The only way we will do that is by winning games.

“We have come away to two tough places and taken maximum points from Aston Villa and Sunderland. It’s very important that we get ourselves into a good position because there is nothing worse than going into the New Year having left yourself too much to do. We want to make sure that we go into the next international break with another three points to ensure that we are in a fabulous position. Nobody here will be getting carried away.

“We had had a tough week. There had been the draw at Swansea, the very disappointing performance against Southampton when we didn’t turn up and then we had mixed emotions after Manchester United because we had played well but not got the result. It was important that we got back to winning ways and it has put us in a nice position in the table.

“We know next week that without a shadow of a doubt we have got to approach the game against Crystal Palace with a completely different manner than we did against Southampton. We have got to make sure we have got the intensity of a Cup final.”

As well as Suárez, Gerrard believes the form of Daniel Sturridge will assist England in the decisive World Cup qualifers in October.

“For me, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge is the partnership that every England fan wants to see,” Gerrard said. “You have seen what he offers and if we can keep Daniel and Wayne on the pitch, so much the better. He is in top form and has made a brilliant start to the season.”